New Fossils

Stupid Kids

"Lift me up. I can't see!" Kana stood on her tippy-toes, trying to look over the other kids crowding around the petting zoo.

Mira sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not Dad and you're not five. You'll be fine."

"Come on! I can still ride the Triceratops. I'm 44 and a half inches!" Kana pleaded.

"No! This place is for little kids." Mira answered.

"Yeah, I know. Do you wanna go on the spinning dinosaur eggs?" Kana diverted her attention to said ride where children shrieked with delight as they spun their cracked open dino egg rides.

"Nope. Cover up your dork pouch, you're embarrassing." Mira said. Zara was nearby talking on the phone. She was pretty distracted, not even looking at the two girls.

"Scatter." Mira tapped Kana's arm. The little girl looked up at her.

"What?" Mira rolled her eyes again.

"Go. Run. Go, go, go!" She pulled Kana with her as the ran through the crowds, giggling.

Zara didn't notice a thing.

§~•~§~•~§

Mira's phone rang and she took it out of her pocket. "Oh, hey Dad!" She answered.

"Hey sweetie! You were supposed to call me when you landed. Are you having fun?" Shima wondered.

"Yeah, I guess. Uncle Bon gave us passes, so we don't have to wait in line. These rides are mostly for little kids though...."

"Hold up, he's not with you?" Shima demanded.

§~•~§~•~§

Suguro felt his phone vibrating and took it out of his pocket.

"Hey Shima!" He greeted brightly even though he had a feeling he was in trouble.

"How's the vacation going, Gorilla?"

Oh fuck, that's Izumo. And she did not sound happy.

He stayed silent weighing his options. Does he lie or does he just go along with it?

"Great? I gave them passes to pretty much everything. Nothing here will harm them and they've got vouchers to eat off of." He answered carefully.

"Oh, that's nice. Can you put Mira on?"

"Nope. They aren't with me." Honesty was the best way to go with the witch his best friend married.

"And why not?!" She shrieked even though she'd already known.

"Because I have a damn job to do, you witch! Stop yelling at me! Not all of us can take work off whatever day we please!" He yelled back. Years after highschool and this woman was still just as bitchy as she'd been at fifteen.

"And why can't you?!" She continued to shout.

"Because I'm a dependable person and I manage shit! I was handed the important task of convincing people to sponsor this park! I'm spending all day with them tomorrow, so chill the fuck out!" He growled, hanging up without waiting for an answer.

§~•~§~•~§

Suguro walked up to the Bungalow, wishing he was anywhere but there.

"What do they need now?" Rin asked without even looking up, still working on his bike.

"Mr. Okumura, we need you to take a look at something important." Suguro answered.

"Ugh, don't call me that. Just Rin." He said with a grimace, still working on his bike.

Suguro sighed. "Rin. If you're not too busy?"

"I'm pretty busy." He tightened a bolt on the bike.

"We have an attraction." Suguro continued.

"That's not what you said the last time I saw you." Rin twisted his wrench. 

"The Dinosaurs, Rin." This is why they never went on a second date. Rin Okumura was an infuriating smartass.

"It's a new species that we've made." Suguro continued.

"You seriously just made a new dinosaur?" Rin finally looked up at him. There was slight judgement in his eyes, but Suguro ignored the fact that the judgement was probably warranted. Once this Dino was shown to the world and became their biggest attraction, Rin would have no right to judge.

"Yeah, it's kinda what we do here. The exhibit opens to the public in three weeks. Mr. Pheles wanted me to consult with you." He replied.

"You want to consult here, or in my bungalow." Rin had a smirk on his face as he wiped his hands free of grease.

"That's not funny." Suguro shook his head. Rin grinned.

"It's a little funny." He chuckled. He finally got up and walked up to the taller man.

"We would like you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities." Suguro ignored the laugh he still secretly found charming.

"And why me?" Rin pressed.

"Pheles seems to think you're able to control the raptors." Suguro responded.

Rin hummed. "It's all about control with you people. I don't control them. It's a relationship based on the mutual respect we have for each other." Rin told him seriously. "It's also the reason you and I never went on a second date, though I won't deny I enjoyed the first."

"Excuse me, I never wanted a second date." Suguro said pettily. He actually would've liked a second date, but Rin was too different from the type of people Suguro was used to dealing with.

"Sorry, but who prints out an itinerary for a date?" Rin recalled. Suguro's cheeks began to heat up.

"I'm an organized person!" He snapped back. "And who shows up to a date in board shorts?!" He shot back.

"It's Central America, this place is hot! How you wear pants in the heat and humidity, I will never know. Maybe you're one of their dino experiments." Rin answered. Suguro cursed this man's ability to have a good answer for everything.

"Ugh, can we just focus on the asset, please?" Suguro requested.

"The 'asset?' Look, I get it. You're in charge out here, you gotta make a lot of tough decisions, it's probably easier to pretend these animals are just numbers on a spread- sheet. But they aren't. They're alive." Rin sighed.

"Of course I know they're alive." Suguro grumbled.

"You may have made them in a test tube, but they don't know that. They're thinking: I gotta eat. I gotta hunt. I gotta live....You can relate to at least one of those things, can't you?" Rin explained. Suguro wanted to just leave. But he had orders.

"I'll be in the car. You might want to change your shirt– they're very sensitive to smell." He quipped, turning away.

"Wow, how many braincells did it take for you to think that one up?" Rin called after him before going inside his home to change.